As Adolescence still rings in our ears, its writer Jack Thorne is now dropping a TV series adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies.
This re-imagining of the savage GCSE syllable stalwart, which has been called “brutal” by reviewers, follows two previous film adaptations of the cautionary tale, in which schoolboys descend into savagery when they are stranded on a desert island following a plane crash.
The BBC adaptation features largely unknown actors playing the well-known characters of group leader Ralph (Winston Sawyers), intellectual Piggy (David McKenna) and antagonist Jack (Lox Pratt).
But how does the story end? Here's what happens in the original novel.
How Lord of the Flies original book ending compares to BBC series
Thorne told the BBC he was keeping the adaptation “faithful” to the book, which ends - spoiler alert - with Ralph running through the jungle fleeing from Jack and his gang of savages, who set fire to the mountain to hunt him down and take control.
The book ends with the fire catching the attention of a British Naval Officer, who turns up on the island, where Ralph and the other boys tell him about their ordeal.
Doing so prompts the boys to fully realise the depths of depravity they’ve sunk to, and they begin to cry.
While much of the book focused on wanting an adult to guide them to order, the officer arrives and fails to comprehend the gravitas of their situation, deciding to believe they were playing a game.
After he is told about the deaths, the officer says: “‘I should have thought that a pack of British boys … would have been able to put up a better show than that.”
Many think this ending shows the bleak irony that the events on the island mirror those in the real, adult world.
How the Lord of the Flies films ended
Lord of the Flies was first adapted to the screen in 1963 by theatre director Peter Brook, who secured funding following concerns from British and American studios about the graphic violence in the book, and a subsequent X rating any adaptation might warrant.
Shot in black and white, Brook’s adaptation ends with a final chase sequence, as per the book. However, when Ralph arrives at the beach and comes face to face with the naval officer, the man doesn’t speak, leaving the ending more open to interpretation.
The 1990 adaptation of Lord of the Flies, directed by Harry Hook, was not as well-received, as it veered away from the book.
The boys, instead of English public school kids who didn't know each other before the crash, were actually American military cadets who seemed to have pre-existing relationships and hierarchies.
While the book’s characters are all children, the 1990 film had the pilot lying seriously injured in a tent and escaping when suspecting the boys meant him harm.
It ends with Ralph collapsing on the beach in front of a US Marine Corps officer, who asks: “What are you boys doing?”
Ralph and the boys break down in tears as they realise the seriousness of their behaviour on the island, and more military helicopters arrive to help rescue them.
It will be interesting to see how Thorne decides to end the 2026 version.
All four episodes of Lord of the Flies will be released on Sunday 8 February on BBC One and iPlayer.
